London is one of the most exciting and rewarding cities to live in in the world! It is much cheaper to experience living in London as a student with the large range of discounts available on almost everything, from public transport to theatre tickets.

Your living expenses will depend on your choices and although London can be expensive, there are opportunities to get the best out of London on a limited budget.

You need to ensure that you have sufficient funds for your fees and that you have enough money for accommodation, food, travel, books and other living expenses. The information below is intended as a guide only, as living costs will vary depending on your individual circumstances and lifestyle.

As a broad estimate of the funds needed to live to a reasonable standard in London, we currently estimate that students should allow approximately £1,800 per month for living costs, in addition to tuition fees.

Living expenses will depend on the type of accommodation you are staying in. Price increases and unexpected expenditure should also be taken into account. Students arranging initial short-term accommodation on arrival in London need to budget for this too.

You may also wish to consider additional initial arrival costs such as accommodation deposits, utensils, clothing, etc.

At King's, our student advisers are on hand to offer you free confidential and practical advice.

If you are experiencing problems with your funding or are worried that you will not have enough money to cover all your costs, King's Money & Housing Advice can help you to manage your money and review your budget. You can contact the advice team via email or telephone, details can be found on the Money & Housing Advice contact webpage.

King's Money & Housing Advice also have a team of trained Student Money Mentors to who provide peer support to students on money matters. They can help you to make the most of your money, whatever your budget.

King’s have also teamed up with Blackbullion, a personal finance app made specifically for students to offer you free online resources about budgeting, saving and investing. 

If you are a new student, you can register with Blackbullion before you enrol using the code NEWTOKINGs. You can update your account with your King’s email address once you have enrolled which will allow you to access all of the activities and tools.

Prospective students considering King’s can set up a temporary registration using the code MONEYSMARTER with any other email account which will help you to prepare for coming to university.

By using the UK Government's student finance calculator you can find out what funding is available to you as a Home or EU student. 

If you are an international student, you can take a look at the British Council's Study UK webpages for more useful guidance.

London may be known as an expensive city to live in, but one of the perks of being a student is that your student ID card gives you access to a range of discounts. This guide will walk you through some of the places where you can get great student offers for cultural sights, entertainment, and food on and around campus.

TOTUM, powered by NUS Extra, provides fantastic student discounts! TOTUM allows you to get the most from your student discounts. Available to you will be offers and discounts from KCLSU, local, national and international business, and useful geo reminders when you’re near by a great offer.

Find out more on how to apply for the TOTUM card. 

UNiDAYS and Student Beans have loads of discounts and offers for everything from restaurants to phone plans. It’s easy and free to sign up and verify your student status. Before making any big purchases, going shopping, or even ordering a takeaway it’s a good idea to check and see what discounts are available.

Read more about the best student discounts around campus, blog written by a current student.

 There are loads of ways to save money and still enjoy the vibrant culture of the London.

Top tips to save money whilst living in London:

Give yourself a monthly budget 

• this will allow you to easily track your outgoings, help you to allocate funds to cover your essentials, and allow you to plan ahead. Make use of savvy student calculators which can be found on the Save the Student website, to help you get started.

Plan ahead

• planning in advance helps you to only buy what you need, and reduces the likelihood of impulse buying. Work out your expenditure, what's going in and what's going out of your accounts

Can you cut down the costs

• deal with the easy saves first; make sure you're getting your full loan entitlement and travel discounts, consider switching energy or phone bills.

Find out more information on tips on managing your money during your studies.

International students requiring a visa to study in the UK are required to demonstrate that they are able to meet the total costs of their study. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have sufficient funds in place to cover all your expenses before you arrive.

UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) requires students to have a budget of at least £1,334 per month in addition to tuition fees. In order to apply for a Tier 4 visa, you will need to show that you have £1,334 for each month of your course, up to nine months. For example if you will be enrolled on a course lasting nine months or more, the maximum amount that you will need is £12,006. Find out more about the money you need for your student visa on the UK Government website. 

As part of visa requirements, if you are a non-EEA student you must ensure that you have sufficient funds for tuition fees and living costs for the full duration of your course.

Travelling around London on public transport can quickly become an expensive business but there are ways to reduce costs.

The Student Oyster Photocard can give you a 30 per cent discount on travel within London on trains, underground, buses and the Docklands Light Railway. Find out more about the Student Oyster Photocard can be found on our website.

Information on travel fares can be found on the Transport for London website.